You Can Have Manhattan
by hueful
Summary: It's been years since anyone has seen or heard from Naminé, so when she suddenly shows up at school one day no one can believe it—especially Sora. Where could she have gone? And why is she so undeniably frail? Kingdom Hearts AU, SoNami as well as others later on. Please R&R!
1. Prologue—Stars

**You Can Have Manhattan—A SoNami {Sora/Naminé} Fanfiction**  
**Summary;** It's been years since anyone has seen or heard from Naminé, so when she suddenly shows up at school one day no one can believe it—especially Sora. Where could she have gone? And why is she so undeniably frail? Kingdom Hearts AU, SoNami as well as others later on.  
**Rating;** T for now, but that may change later on.  
**Author's Note;** So, I just recently finished watching Chain of Memories and I completely fell in love with Sora and Naminé. And as usual, when I fall in love with something, I need to write fanfiction. Hence, this. I actually just finished writing an entire plot line for a Roxas and Olette fanfiction, yet I felt this weird urgency to write something dedicated to Sora and Naminé first. The title for the story comes from Sara Bareilles' song, "Manhattan". It's basically about giving someone the chance to find something beautiful even if you can't experience with them (at least, that's what I believe it is about and I'm sticking to it) as well as heartbreak. In the end, I think you'll find out what I mean by that. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this little introduction and I will start working on several other chapters tomorrow.

* * *

_**You Can Have Manhattan—The Prologue  
Stars**_

"Sora, why do you think stars are called stars?"

I watched as his blue eyes locked onto the night sky. He was thinking—I could tell because he had buried his hand in his hair, as he always did when he was thinking harder than he needed to. "Well," he started, his voice soft, "I think it's the way they're shaped. I guess they sort of look like stars, so that must be why they're called stars."

I had never thought of it that way. "Oh, I guess that makes sense. They just look like lights to me. I wish I could see a star up close."

"That's an awesome idea," he said, "how about we do that? Let's go see a star!" Turning towards me, he smiled that sly smile—he was probably formulating some plan to go on another one of his crazy adventures.

"Sora, I don't think we can. They're so far away and we can't fly."

"Nothing's too far away if you just believe."

"You're crazy," I said, looking at my hands in my lap. Turning my gaze back to Sora, I raised an eyebrow, "How will we get to the stars?"

"My dad's plane, duh." I watched as he jumped off the branch and reached out his hand to help me down. As my feet touched the sand, I couldn't help but smile. I never grew tired of the feeling of sand on my bare feet. As I went for my shoes, Sora stood still, his eyes glued to the sky. "We can go tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow? But, are you sure your dad will let you use his plane?"

"I think I'm too little to drive, so he'll have to but I think he'll say yes. I know he'll say yes."

"Okay," I said, smiling, "Then tomorrow."

Tearing his gaze away from the sky, he made his way towards me. I could see my father waiting for us with his boat, so we started back towards the dock. With our plan to fly to the stars in place, I suddenly couldn't wait for tomorrow. Would my parents let me go? I'd have to convince them. I would do the dishes for an entire month if it meant I could go. With how weak I had been lately, getting permission to leave the house was a battle in itself. They'd give me an hour to go out and play, never anything more. I faintly remembered a time when I could come and go whenever I pleased, but that time was long gone. Sora constantly asked why I never came to play anymore and I was never able to give him an answer. He always said that Riku and Kairi missed me. They all questioned why I was so absent from their lives. I felt awful about lacking the knowledge I needed in order to really tell them about what was going on. I was expected to explain something I barely understood myself.

"Naminé?"

"Huh?" I hadn't realized that I had zoned out.

"Even if my dad says no to going tomorrow, I promise we'll go see a star some other day, okay?"

"Sure, okay," I replied, hoping that we wouldn't have to delay our adventure.

Putting his hands behind his head, Sora sighed. "You know, we make a lot of promises to each other. Like, I promised that I would show you how to fight with my toy sword and I promised to teach you how to swim. You promised to teach me how to draw."

"I think that's what friends do."

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll be sure to keep all my promises. Friends don't break promises, especially ones as cool as going to see a real star." Grinning, he playfully punched my arm.

Pushing him slightly, I giggled. "Alright, don't let me down then." As we neared the dock, I waved to my father.

"Come on kids, it's getting late," my father shouted, motioning for us to hurry. Sora and I raced to the boat, putting me completely out of breath. My lungs struggled for air, yet I kept myself as composed as possible. Slowly, my father's boat took us back to the main island. On our way back, Sora told my father about our plan to see the stars tomorrow night. Once I regained my ability to breathe, I nodded, adding that it would be something I'd never forget. My father did not respond—which led me to believe he was ready to tell me no the moment we got home. After my father's sharp silence, no one spoke. I simply kept my eyes on my shoes.

Thankfully, we reached the main island a few minutes later. I was thrilled to be away from the awkward silence that floated in the air. While my father tended to his boat, Sora and I walked home. He didn't seem phased by my father's cold shoulder. Instead, he went on and on about how amazing our trip would be and how there was no way my parents could say no to something so grand. I tried to smile but knowing that there was no way my father would say yes made it difficult. Yet, I didn't want to break Sora's adventurous spirit so I kept my mouth shut. I'd have to find a way to tell him tomorrow.

Sora and I lived right next to each other, making our walk home much less lonely. My house was first, then his. Stopping in front of my house, we said goodbye as we always did and parted ways. As I reached my door, I glanced back over to Sora across the way. He waved enthusiastically, shouting, "I'll see you tomorrow!" I waved back, knowing deep down that tomorrow would never happen.

And sadly, I was right.


	2. Chapter 1—Something New

**You Can Have Manhattan—A SoNami {Sora/Naminé} Fanfiction**  
**Chapter Summary;** It's Naminé'sfirst day of public school in over ten years and while some things go completely right, everything else seems to go completely wrong.  
**Story Rating;** T for now, but that may change later on.**  
**

* * *

_**You Can Have Manhattan—Chapter One**_  
_**Something New**_

I sat quietly in the passenger's seat of my mother's car—a car I was sick and tired of being in. I was sick of the strange, caramel apple smell and I was tired of listening to her unending supply of audiobooks. However, today I seemed to mind a bit less, seeing as it was the first day of school. At least, it was the first day for me. It was my junior year and I would finally be spending some time in a real school with real people. It was all so exciting yet terrifying.

"Remember to give the principal your doctor's note," my mother said as she pulled up to the drop off point near the front of the building. I was hoping the entire ride would be silent.

"Okay," I muttered, grabbing my bag from the floor.

As the car rolled to a stop, I unbuckled my seat belt and threw open the door. Throwing my bag over my shoulder, I noticed that my mother was wiping away a few tears. "Have a great day at school."

"Please don't cry," I begged. "I'll be fine, I promise. You don't have to worry about me."

"Okay, okay. I'll see you later." Cars behind her began to honk, so I shut the door and gave her a reassuring wave. She waved back but I could tell that she wasn't as enthusiastic as I was. Attempting to shake my mother's doubts, I slowly made my way up the lawn and through the front doors of the school.

* * *

The main hallway was packed, almost resembling that of trout trying to move upstream. I, of course, was the trout attempting to move against everyone else. As I made my way to the principal's office, I noticed a group of kids who seemed vaguely familiar. It had been so long since I had seen any of them, I could barely remember their faces. Yet, the moment I spotted them standing so strong in the sea of uniformed trout, I knew it was them. I knew it was my friends from so long ago. I wanted to change my course and surprise them, yet the moment didn't feel right. I wasn't ready. So, I struggled my way to the principal's office and received my schedule for the rest of the school year without saying a word to my friends. I had already missed the entire first half of the school year, but that didn't seem to cause too much trouble, mainly because I kept up with my homeschooling. No one believed I was ready to go back to the life I had left behind ten years ago. I was ready to prove them wrong.

By the time I had finished speaking with the principal, the first bell had already rung and I was officially late to my first class. Great. Thankfully, I was given a hall pass as I was shooed out of the now empty office. The halls were quiet and much less claustrophobic now. I made my way to my locker, attempting to memorize the layout of the school as I went. In all honesty, I had no idea where anything was. I was surprised that I found my locker at all. Of course, there was nothing in it but it was a decent starting point.

I looked down at my schedule, unsure of where to go next. My first class was chemistry, a course I couldn't bare to think about. Science was not my forte. Rolling my eyes, I set off to find my first—completely horrid start to the day—class. After wandering around for what seemed like hours, I finally stumbled upon the classroom hidden all the way towards the back of the farthest wing of the entire building. As I opened the door slightly to peak inside I noticed the teacher had already started the lecture, seeing as I was at least twenty minutes late by now.

"Excuse me?"

Startled, I quickly turned around to face the voice. My heart was racing, my chest stung. "I'm sorry, I was just—I don't want to interrupt the class."

The woman raised an eyebrow before looking passed me momentarily. As her eyes made their way back to me I felt as though I was shrinking beneath her gaze. "Why are you out here in the first place? Do you have a hall pass?" I flashed my pass and watched as her entire demeanor changed. Her scowl turned into a rather friendly smile and her stern posture dropped into a more relaxed position. "Sorry, I have to do that sometimes to rattle some fear into those teenage brains."

"Right," I mumbled, still slightly scared of her.

"Look, I need to pull Merlin from his class anyways for a quick talk, so how about you sneak on in as soon as he leaves, alright? No awkward stares or embarrassment required."

Suddenly, I wasn't so scared. "Thank you, Miss—"

"Kisaragi. All my students call me Yuffie though. I teach at a more, personal level." Laughing a bit, she nudged me lightly. I was now officially hoping I'd be in one of her classes. "Chill out here, I'll be right back."

Nodding, I waited outside the classroom as Yuffie went to fetch her fellow colleague. As they exited the classroom, Yuffie made sure to keep Merlin's attention away from me so I could sneak in without detection—from him at least. The moment I stepped into the classroom dozens of eyes found their way to me. I kept my head down and walked as quickly as I possibly could to the first open seat I saw. No one said a word to me, they just went back to their own conversations. However, I still felt one set of eyes on me. I turned around in my chair slightly and noticed him instantly. Towards the back of the classroom sat a boy with spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes—the same bright blue eyes that promised me a trip to the stars.

Sora.

I immediately turned back around, my cheeks flushed. I focused my eyes on the blackboard as Mr. Merlin came strolling back in to continue his lecture. Pulling my notebook and a pen out of my bag I scribbled down everything he had already written on the board. Though I hated chemistry, I focused on it as hard as I could in order to forget the fact that Sora was in the room. What if he wanted to talk to me? No, I wasn't ready. I had planned on going a week before approaching him. My mind wandered from the lecture as my thoughts revolved around getting out of the classroom before Sora could try to talk to me. I'd have to run for the door. Wait, who am I kidding? I can't run.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the bell rang to signal the end of class. I was frozen there for a moment, unsure of what to do. I threw my supplies back into my bag and peered behind me, just to see if he was making his way over to my desk. Yet, to my surprise, he was gone.

* * *

Finding my classes for the rest of the morning was tiresome. The amount of times I got lost was on the borderline of embarrassing. By the time lunch came around I was thrilled—I just wanted to rest and not worry about taking notes. Homeschooling was a lot easier and by the time I was sitting at an empty table, I was on the verge of believing that everyone else was right about me not being ready.

My eyes searched the cafeteria as I slowly unpacked my lunch. I didn't recognize any of the faces. My lunch was as usual—a bologna sandwich, a fruit cup and a bag of pretzels. Opening the bag of pretzels, I started to eat.

I watched as a silver-haired boy made his way to my table. He sat directly across from me but didn't bother to start unpacking his lunch. I didn't mind his company, so I kept to myself. He simply stared at me intensely, like he was trying to solve some type of difficult puzzle. It took a moment to realize who it was, "Riku?"

"Bullshit."

"Uh, excuse me?" I was somewhat taken aback by his vulgar response.

"Is that really you?"

He leaned across the table, his eyes locked on mine. He was studying me. Tightening my shoulders, I cleared my throat, "Yes."

"Bullshit."

I rolled my eyes. "Is that all you can say?"

"I can't believe it," he mumbled, trailing off. He started waving, presumably to a group waiting behind me. By the time I had turned around to see who he was motioning to, they were all sitting across from me, staring as intensely as Riku was before. I twisted back around and waved, somewhat nervously, to the small group that was now sitting in front of me. I only recognized a few of them.

"It's really you, Sora wasn't kidding," Kairi said as she rested her elbows on the table.

Both of them looked so much older. Their hair was longer and their faces fuller. Riku's large eyes were followed by dark circles, while Kairi seemed as bright and bubbly as I remembered. The other boys that had followed them to the table were unfamiliar to me, yet they seemed just as fascinated with me as Riku and Kairi were. They both had spiky hair, one blonde and one unnaturally bright red.

"Uh—S-Sora?" I stuttered, looking down.

"Yeah, he said he saw you in chemistry this morning," Riku said, shaking his head, "I thought he was joking."

"Surprise?" I said, shrugging my shoulders.

The red-headed boy hopped over the table to take a seat next to me. "So, you're Naminé? We've heard a lot about you."

"Have you?" I questioned, scooting over a bit to maintain my personal space. "There's not much to tell, really."

"Oh, I forgot—" Kairi chimed in, "that's Axel and this is Roxas." The blonde-haired boy smiled at me as Axel continued to lean closer. "They moved to the islands a few years after you left."

"It's nice to meet you two," I said, trying to smile.

As they continued to stare at me, the warning bell rang. I was feeling rather uncomfortable, so I quickly packed up my lunch and excused myself. The four didn't say anything as I left—they simply continued to gawk as I walked away. It was as if they thought they were looking at a ghost. A ghost that had lost all ability to socially interact with people other than nurses and parents.

I couldn't seem to get out of the cafeteria fast enough. My heart rate had sky-rocketed, leaving me in an overly stressed state. I thought I was ready to at least see _them_, but I was wrong. Resting against a nearby locker, I tried to concentrate on slowing down my breathing. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe ou—

"Naminé?"

Everything stopped. My eyes rose from the ground to the face of the boy standing in front of me. I felt like a deer in the headlights and I probably looked like one too.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked as he raised an eyebrow.

I took a step back as he started to reach for my shoulder. My back collided with the locker I stood in front of. My mind was in a sheer, unorganized panic. What was I supposed to do? My stomach felt sick and my chest felt heavy. "I—I have to go. Right now."

I didn't dare to look back as I rushed down the hallway. As soon as I felt far enough away, I slowed myself down to a light walk. My head was pounding, my lungs were on fire. I suddenly felt dizzy, disoriented. I started stumbling down the hallway as my legs struggled to support my body. I spotted the nurses office a couple doors down and made my way towards it.

He knew exactly who I was the moment I hobbled in.


	3. Chapter 2—Visitor

**You Can Have Manhattan—A SoNami {Sora/Naminé} Fanfiction**  
**Chapter Summary;** Naminé and her parents have dinner. Afterwards, a boy from school shows up outside her window.  
**Story Rating;** T for now, but that may change later on.  
**Author's Note;** I apologize for the wait for this chapter! I have no idea why but I had a hard time with this one. The writer's block kicked in a bit too early in this story for my liking. So, to break the writer's block spell I went to my local art museum and just sat in front of this huge display of my favorite paintings. Thankfully, it worked and I got back the inspiration I needed! So now I present chapter two! Please R&R, I would really appreciate it.

* * *

_**You Can Have Manhattan—Chapter Two**_  
_**Visitor**_

"So dear, how was school?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," I said, wincing.

"You have to tell us about your big day. You can't just sit there in silence."

At this point, my lack of appetite didn't need any assistance. Yet, my mother knew how to completely destroy any chance of my hunger appearing without even trying. Her request was innocent enough and in reality, she had no idea what had happened at school earlier—mainly because I begged the nurse not to call her. Thinking back on my disastrous first day and all the demons I had to face without any preparation whatsoever, I did what I knew would get her off my back—speak up and lie a bit. "Okay, okay. It was fine."

My mother twitched her nose in displeasure, as if my answer wasn't good enough for her. "Well, what did you do?"

Swirling my spaghetti around my fork, I sighed. "I learned things."

"Did you make any friends?"

By now I was starting to feel aggravated. "No."

"Honey," she said, looking to my father, "will you please tell your daughter to act her age and actually talk to her _concerned_ mother."

"Naminé," my father said sternly, "be an adult."

"Look, I'm telling you the truth. I went to all my classes, I kept to myself, then I came home. That's it. My first day was as uneventful as your meals, mom." Shoving my plate towards her, I shot her a glare. I was not in the mood to talk about my day and she pushed me as if she couldn't read me like a book. My mother claimed to understand me better than myself whenever I went to the doctor's, though she couldn't tell that I was uninterested in talking about my not-so-brilliant day? I definitely didn't feel sorry for her as she gathered my plate and stomped into the kitchen without a single word. My mother was a talker and the moment she silenced herself, you knew something was eating away at her. _Oops_.

As usual, my father felt the need to rush to her rescue instead of mine. "I suggest you go to your room for the rest of the night."

"But dad, come on. I didn't do anything wro—"

"Now, Naminé."

Forcing myself up from my chair, I left the dining room in a furious state. I didn't expect my parents to act any differently the moment I was diagnosed, yet I had assumed they would at least treat me with a little more respect. I was still the suspicious one in the family—the moment anything went wrong, I was to blame, I was the bad guy. Mother would go to bed crying, _Namin__é__, what did you say? _Father's office door was left open, _Namin__é__, what did you take? _Now my mother was upset over my words and I expected my father to come to my room later and tell me to watch my mouth next time around. Though furious, I also felt abandoned by the people who were supposed to love me. What did I ever do to them?

As I made my way to my bedroom, I tried to keep myself composed. I said I didn't want to talk about it, my mother chose to ignore my wishes and now it was my fault. My insides were screaming at me to react. My heart was telling me to run back downstairs and stand up for myself. Instead, I followed my reasonable, anti-confrontational mind and kept silent as I shut my bedroom door on the world of my parents.

"Hi Bubbles," I said, greeting my goldfish. Slumping into my desk chair, I stared into his tank as he happily swam in circles. While my parents were unreasonable, Bubbles was understanding. Whether he truly knew what I was saying or not, I always spoke to him when things were semi falling apart. "You look extra thrilled today," I smiled, placing my finger on his tank wall. He swam to it, pacing back and forth as soon as he reached it. For the first time that day since I ran into Yuffie, I genuinely laughed.

If my house felt tense, I escaped to my room. It was comfortable and it was mine. There I could laugh, I could smile, and I could act however I pleased. The walls were a bright, welcoming yellow while everything else was a flawless, eggshell white. My floor, my furniture and even my bedding held this color and I had planned that all along. The white reflected my innocence, my childhood that was stolen but not forgotten. When you have to grow up faster than expected, white sort of represents everything you wish you still had. The moment we moved back into my childhood home, I got to work on designing a room that I could call my safe haven. I had definitely succeeded.

Grabbing my book bag off my floor, I dumped out the contents and snatched up my chemistry notebook. Mr. Merlin didn't assign any homework but I thought it would be nice to get my mind off of things. Opening the notebook, I started to read over the notes I had taken in class earlier. By the time I reached the bottom of the first page I was yawning.

* * *

A loud tap on my window startled me awake. What time was it? A few minutes after ten, according to my alarm clock several feet away. After peeling my notebook off of my face, I noted the drool and immediately tried to forget about it. Another tap on my window made me jump. Cautiously, I made my way over to it. It was dark, but I could vaguely see an outline of someone standing in my backyard. Opening my window and screen, I popped my head outside to get a closer look. All I noticed in the faint light of the moon was a head of bright red hair.

"Axel?" I questioned, squinting my eyes a bit. It was definitely him, flaming hair and all.

"Hey there blondie," he said, waving, "are you going to come down and see me?"

Placing my finger to my mouth, I shushed him. All I needed was my parents to wake up and see a boy relaxing in our yard. "What in the world are you doing here?"

"I just want to talk," he whined, "if you remember, you sort of gave us the cold shoulder at lunch today."

"I did not," I defended. I saw the outline of his figure shift as he shrugged his shoulders. "Look, it's late and honestly, I don't even know you. You're basically a stranger to me."

"Oh come on," he shouted, throwing his arms in the air. I watched as his figure dashed towards my house and disappeared. I thought for a moment that he was gone, until he spoke once more. "If you're not going to come down, I'm going to come up."

"Wait wh—" I said before being interrupted by Axel climbing through my open window. Jumping backwards, I nearly tripped over the foot of my bed. He had somehow maneuvered his way up the side of my house and now he was in my bedroom. There was a boy in my bedroom. The realization hit my like a ton of bricks. "Oh no, no, no, no." I rushed towards him as he fell from the window onto my floor. "You need to go, you need to go right now."

As he started to get up, I began to push him back towards the window. With the little bit of upper body strength I had, I managed to force him off balance. "Easy there hotshot," he groaned, finding his center of gravity once more, "why don't you relax a bit."

"Relax? My parents will kill me if they see you!" I tried to push him once more but he didn't budge. "You need to climb right back out that window."

"Not going to happen. I came here for a reason and I'm not leaving until we talk."

Now I could understand why all the nurses would complain about men being difficult. Axel was being more than difficult—he was being unreasonable. "What 'reason' possessed you to come to my house at ten o'clock at night? And who told you where I lived?"

I watched as Axel made his way around my room. I watched as he observed the area, as if he was going to figure me out by examining every inch of the place. He had yet to answer my question by the time he was finished snooping around. Sitting in my desk chair, he smiled, "Nice space you got here. I especially like the white."

I raised my voice a bit, "Will you just tell me why you're here?"

"Just as I said, I want to talk. Sora said that you used to live next door to him, so I thought I'd see if you guys came back to the same place," he said, laughing, "as usual, I was right."

Apparently, I had no choice but to listen to whatever Axel had to say. He obviously wasn't leaving anytime soon. Making my way over to my bed, I sat on the edge of it. "What do you want to talk about?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. After you left us at lunch, Sora came running in with this weird smile on his face. He was going on and on about how he saw you and I eventually had to shut him up because he literally would not stop. After we told him that we had just sat with you he couldn't believe it. If I recall correctly, he said it was like a dream of his was coming true."

"Really?" My cheeks were burning up.

"Really," he chuckled, shaking his head, "we haven't seen Sora that upbeat in years. It was like, a lightbulb finally lit up in that kids brain. It was incredible."

_We haven__'__t seen Sora that upbeat in years._ I was puzzled. Sora was always so bubbly. Did things change that much in my absence? "Has he been sad?" I asked, squeezing my own hand.

"Well you see—" Axel said, trailing off. It was as if he wasn't sure how to put the situation. After a moment of silence, he continued, "I moved to the islands a few years after you left. I met Sora and the others after my parents made me go to this stupid school carnival. Riku and Kairi were cool but you could tell that Sora wasn't all there," he paused, sighing heavily, "and that's when they told me about you."

I was interested now. "What did they say?"

Running his fingers through his red hair, he shot me a quick smile. "They said you were the island sweetheart. You were loved by a lot of people, especially Sora." I noticed his smile begin to fade. "But then, they said you just disappeared. Sora was optimistic for a while, until a few months passed by with no word. They told me that that was the moment he started acting strange. He still smiled, laughed and told obnoxious jokes but he was missing something. Kairi specifically said he was missing his artistic side." His smile returned as he pointed to the drawings pinned to my walls.

"Very funny," I said, frowning a bit. "So, you're here to make me feel bad? Is that it?"

"No, that isn't it at all." He shook his head. "I guess you could say that I'm here to ask why, for the sake of Sora."

"I'm not going to tell you why, you wasted a trip." Folding my arms across my chest, I nodded towards the window. "So you can leave now."

"Fine," he said, throwing his hands up in defense, "I'll go." I followed Axel with my eyes from the moment he left from desk chair to the moment he reached the window. I was glad he told me about Sora but I was still in the dark as to why he told me in the first place.

"Thank you."

Before climbing out the window and out of my sight, he paused. "Can you just give me some sort of clue? I mean, I came all the way over here because I was curious. No one put me up to it. Sora has always been this big mystery to Roxas and I, so I just wanted to see if you had some answers."

The genuine tone behind Axel's voice sent chills down my spine. If he was searching for answers, I couldn't let him leave empty-handed. Yet, I wasn't going to spill my entire life story to a stranger. Quickly, I decided to give him a small taste of what transpired and the general reason behind why I left Destiny Islands in such a hurry; "I left because I got sick."


End file.
